House Committee Votes to Boost Great Lakes Funding

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passes Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2019, which increases funding over five years from $300 million to $475 million per year.ANN ARBOR, MICH. (September 19, 2019) – The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted today to boost federal investments to protect and restore the Great Lakes. The committee passed the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2019, which increases funding over five years from $300 million per year to $475 million per year. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative helps local communities in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin clean up toxic pollution, restore fish and wildlife habitat, manage invasive species, and reduce runoff pollution.Increasing investments in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has been a top priority for the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, which heralded the move as essential to protect a resource that provides drinking water to more than 30 million people in the United States and is at the heart of a regional binational economy that is the 3rd largest in the world.“This is excellent news for the 30 million people who count on the Great Lakes for their drinking water, jobs, and quality of life,” said Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “We thank U.S. Reps. David Joyce and Marcy Kaptur for their support for boosting Great Lakes restoration funding. Federal investments in the Great Lakes are producing results for communities across the region. But serious threats remain. The funding increase in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2019 acknowledges that we have a lot more work to do. We look forward to working with public officials to ensure that Great Lakes restoration and protection remain a national priority.”The act has broad bi-partisan support with 25 Democrats and 20 Republicans as co-sponsors.